Palestinians carry the body of a person killed in an Israeli bombardment at a building of a UNRWA vocational training center which displaced people use as a shelter in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Jan 24. Japan has decided to suspend funding for a U.N. agency that supports Palestinian refugees, joining the United States and others, amid allegations that its staff may have been involved in Hamas' attack on Israel last year. The Oct. 7 attack triggered the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip which has left over 26,000 people dead in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave and led to a severe deterioration in the humanitarian situation. Some Western nations such as Britain have followed the United States in halting funding for UNRWA. UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement Saturday that the decisions by nine countries to suspend funding "threatens our ongoing humanitarian work across the region including and especially in the Gaza Strip."

Source: Wall Street Journal January 29, 2024 11:50 UTC